Al Madina mosque, Barking has won an award at the prestigious Global Donors Forum, during which it showcased its voluntary and community work.

The Global Donors Forum (GDF) is the biennial convening of the World Congress of Muslim Philanthropists (WCMP), which brings together influential individuals, foundations and socially responsible corporations dedicated to charitable causes.

The aim of the forum was to bring together groups from the charitable sector, government and business leaders and grant makers to offer insights on how to deal with pressing global challenges, including global warming and extremism.

The forum took place between September 10-12th at the British Museum.

It was the only mosque to participate at the event, highlighting its voluntary work and far-reaching impact in areas such as youth services, outreach, women’s empowerment and sports engagement as part of its innovative community empowerment programme.

The programme helps to empower communities through a range of prevention and intervention measures dealing directly with the social, cultural, political and economic realities that lead individuals and communities to become disempowered and feeling alienated.

This includes dealing with various forms of extremism, from religious extremism to nationalist populism as well as global warming.

This is done through using targeted and outcome specific interventions to help develop leadership within the local community in order to achieve positive and sustainable social change.

The mosque was also recognised in the Legacy of Philanthropy Awards at the forum for its forward thinking approach to civic engagement.

A volunteer at the mosque, Abbas Aziz, said: “Al Madina’s role and engagement at this highly reputable International conference as the only Mosque to participate, inform and provide leadership, highlights its workand standing in the community of mosques and the voluntary sector but its empowerment programme showcases the true role mosques should and can play when led effectively and with vision.’

Secretary of the mosque, Ash Siddique said: The centre has an extensive local, national and international welfare programme which puts into practice the philosophy behind philanthropic and charitable giving at varying degrees of operational scale, for the sole promotion of achieving social equality for all communities.”